Once again, the month of March is here! Ghana gained independence in March, so I like to dedicate this month to celebrating Ghanaian writers and their work. In the African literature scene, Ghanaian writers and their books are seriously underrated. As a reader of Ghanaian heritage, I enjoy discovering new Ghanaian writers and learning about our pioneer writers. If we don’t celebrate our own, who will?

Last year on African Book Addict!we celebrated 75 Ghanaian writers and their books in a 3-part series. This month, (more like this month), I’ll be in conversation with some of the writers highlighted in last year’s series! This week is the last installment of the conversations I have with writers of Ghanaian descent.

This week, I chat with Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond – author of Powder Necklace, which was published in 2010. I enjoyed Powder Necklace back in 2013, before the creation of this book blog (hence no book review on the site). Since my 2018 reading intentions are to re-read some novels and indulge in more work by Ghanaian writers, I shall be re-reading and reviewing Nana Ekua’s coming-of-age debut this year. Enjoy this fun book chat where Nana Ekua talks about what she learned about herself while writing her debut, how she feels about the future of Ghanaian literature, the Black writers who influence her work, new projects that will be published soon & more!

(note – ‘NEBH’ represents Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond’s responses)

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Check out the synopsis for Powder Necklace below:

To protect her daughter from the fast life and bad influences of London, her mother sent her to school in rural Ghana. The move was for the girl’s own good, in her mother’s mind, but for the daughter, the reality of being the new girl, the foreigner-among-your-own-people, was even worse than the idea.

During her time at school, she would learn that Ghana was much more complicated than her fellow ex-pats had ever told her, including how much a London-raised child takes something like water for granted. In Ghana, water “became a symbol of who had and who didn’t, who believed in God and who didn’t. If you didn’t have water to bathe, you were poor because no one had sent you some.”

After six years in Ghana, her mother summons her home to London to meet the new man in her mother’s life—and his daughter. The reunion is bittersweet and short-lived as her parents decide it’s time that she get to know her father. So once again, she’s sent off, this time to live with her father, his new wife, and their young children in New York—but not before a family trip to Disney World.

I remember reading your debut novel, Powder Necklace back in 2013 and resonating with it on so many levels. At the time, I hadn’t read a book that accurately articulated the many issues I had with myself and others (mostly Ghanaians) after I moved to Ghana at the age of 10, so I thank you! Why was it important for you to write the story?

NEBH: Thank you! I’m so glad to know Powder Necklace resonated with you. It was important to me to write Powder Necklace because I had so many misconceptions about Ghana before I went to live and school there at 12.

My parents had pumped it up as this utopia where kids never misbehaved, and would threaten to send my siblings and me there whenever we didn’t act right. Meanwhile, it felt like American news programs of the early ‘80s were conflating the Ethiopian famine with all of Africa. Add that to the Save the Children commercials starring Sally Struthers that were repeatedly on air, and it seemed as if Africa was a Land of Flies and Kwashiorkor-Stricken Children. No wonder some of my classmates in the States thought anyone from Africa was a “Booty Scratcher.”

With Powder Necklace, I wanted to share the slice of Africa I experienced in Ghana. Yes, there was poverty, but there was also wealth and both stations were far more complicated than depicted in American media or even by family. Everything and everyone I encountered was far more nuanced.

I also felt like there weren’t many contemporary books for Black kids who weren’t African-American—at least I hadn’t come across many growing up. In the ‘90s, when Black literature was experiencing a wave with books by Terry McMillan, E. Lynn Harris, Bebe Moore Campbell, J. California Cooper, April Sinclair, et al, most centered on the African-American experience. I wanted Powder Necklace to speak to the experience of being Black and African in the diaspora.

Did you learn anything about yourself while writing Powder Necklace?

NEBH: I did. Powder Necklace was inspired by my experience getting sent to school in Ghana at 12. It fundamentally changed my personality and intensified my faith in God, but I had not fully dealt with the resentment and anger I felt from being tricked into staying in Ghana. As I began to write the book, I realized how much I had suppressed about the experience. I was surprised by how painful it was to revisit the isolation and fear I felt as a kid when it sunk in that I would be in Ghana without my parents for years, at a boarding school two hours’ drive from my home in Accra.

I had also been hazed by many of my schoolmates during my time at school. In my mind they were all villains, but as I wrote, and had the distance to see myself as a character in a bigger story, I could see the cultural chauvinism I brought to my interactions with my fellow students and still held in some ways.

Three years ago, I read a compelling essay of yours in Mosaic Literary Magazine – ‘The African Renaissance’, where you discussed the trajectory of African literature over the years and the interrogation of ‘authentic’ African identity tagged to stories and writers. Some writers dislike being ‘pigeon-holed’ and labeled as ‘African writer’ or ‘Black writer.’ How do you prefer to be identified as a writer?

NEBH: I appreciate being identified as an “African writer” or “Black writer” because I am proud of my Africanness and my Blackness. It took me a long time to get here. I had to get over years of cultural indoctrination designed to make me feel ashamed of my dark skin, and my Ghanaian name and origin—and now that I have, I refuse to have my identity erased or downgraded by anyone, including myself.

The only reason being labeled an “African” or a “Black” writer can pigeonhole is because mainstream culture is infected with racist notions about what it means to be African and Black, and the powers that be have a track record of allowing only certain types of narratives by Black people to see the light of day. By standing proudly in my identity and working to tell authentic stories, I am defying the idea that we should be ashamed of who we are and forcing people to see that no race or ethnicity can be narrowed down to one story or experience.

Do you remember the first book you read by a Ghanaian writer? If so, what book was it and how was the experience? After working on the #GHat60 project last year, I was amazed at the great number of Ghanaian writers doing amazing work. How do you feel about the future of Ghanaian literature?

NEBH: The first book I read by a Ghanaian writer was a play—Ama Ata Aidoo’s The Dilemma of a Ghost. I immediately connected with her story of a Ghanaian man bringing his African-American wife home to Ghana and the clash they were dealing with because I was going through a similar experience as I read it at school in Ghana.

Nana Awere Damoah has started the Ghana-based online bookstore BookNook, which should make it easier for readers in Ghana to get their hands on books by Ghanaian authors. Together with Kofi Akpabli, Nana Awere Damoah also goes around Ghana producing open mic nights. Martin Egblewogbe co-founded Writers Project Ghana and co-hosts a radio show on Ghana’s Citi FM that features Ghanaian writers as well as writers from all over the continent.

You have your blog, which promotes African authors, and there are other sites focused on African literature too like Nana-Ama Kyerematen’s AfriDiaspora and Ainehi Edoro’s Brittle Paper. Plus, there are writing contests geared toward young Ghanaians like the #360WritersChallenge, which is aimed at university students and the Blooming Minds Young Writers Award for children, not to mention the proliferation of prizes that have cropped up in the last five years geared toward African writers including the Miles Morland Writing Scholarship.

Right now, Ghanaian writers of any age and stage can find encouragement, support, and inspiration among peers and promoters. If this continues—and I believe it will if we as writers and lovers of literature remain vigilant about creating and supporting individuals, initiatives, and institutions that support us—there’s no reason Ghana can’t be home to a proliferation of powerful literary voices generation after generation.

What have you been reading and loving lately? And who are some of your favorite Black writers and influencers of your work?

NEBH: I recently devoured Baruch Sterman’s The Rarest Blue. I know I’m so so late on The Life of Pi, but I finally read it and absolutely loved it. Currently, I’m in the middle of Chigozie Obioma’s The Fishermen.

My favorite Black writer is Buchi Emecheta. Reading her work, it’s clear how much empathy she had for her characters, and she had a gift for pacing. In addition to Ms. Emecheta, there are so many Black writers I aspire to be as honest and fearless as in my writing, including Zadie Smith and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Both women are such astute and commanding storytellers.

Buchi Emecheta

Zadie Smith

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I love the care Ayesha Harruna Attah gives to the tiniest details. NoViolet Buluwayo has a fierce way with words that I deeply admire. I so appreciate the poetry of Taiye Selasi’s style. And Ama Ata Aidoo is a legend. Her commitment to telling nuanced stories of Ghanaian lives, particularly Ghanaian women’s lives, has set the benchmark for contemporary Ghanaian writers.

Ayesha Harruna Attah

NoViolet Bulawayo

Taiye Selasi

Ama Ata Aidoo

I enjoyed your short story – Mama Africa, which was published in the Africa39 Anthology (2014) and I’m excited to see that you’ll be featured in Everyday People: The Color of Life – a Short Story Anthology this summer (August 2018). Do you have a new novel or collection of stories currently in the works to be published soon?

NEBH: Thank you for reading and following my work! I have finished a second novel that I’m really eager to get out into the world. I don’t have a publication date yet, or a publisher, but I’m confident I will soon. In the meantime, I’m working on another novel, a children’s book series, and a literary project for Ghanaian writers. I also have a short story in the forthcoming anthology Accra Noir.

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Ayesha Harruna Attah, Michael Donkor and Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond for participating in this fun miniseries of book chats! Also, thank you to all the readers of the book blog who have enjoyed these book chats with writers of Ghanaian descent. #ReadGhanaian!

Check out the 75 Ghanaian writers that were highlighted in last year’s 3-part series below:

Once again, the month of March is here! Ghana gained independence in March, so I like to dedicate this month to celebrating Ghanaian writers and their work. In the African literature scene, Ghanaian writers and their books are seriously underrated. As a reader of Ghanaian heritage, I enjoy discovering new Ghanaian writers and learning about our pioneer writers. If we don’t celebrate our own, who will?

Last year on African Book Addict! we celebrated 75 Ghanaian writers and their books in a 3-part series. This year (more like this month), I’ll be in conversation with some of the writers highlighted in last year’s series!

This week, I chat with Michael Donkor – author of forthcoming novel Hold, which will be out this July in the UK and in the US, under the title Housegirl, in August. Donkor grew up in a Ghanaian household in West London and currently works as an English teacher. It’s taken about 10 years for his debut novel to find a publisher, so I’m very excited for Donkor and I hope Hold is nothing but a success when it’s finally out! Enjoy this fun book chat where Donkor talks about how fervent reading turned him into a writer, the inspirations for this female-centered novel, how he identifies as a writer and more!

A moving and unexpectedly funny exploration of friendship and family, shame and forgiveness, Michael Donkor’s debut novel follows three adolescent girls grappling with a shared experience: the joys and sorrows of growing up.

Belinda knows how to follow the rules. As a housegirl, she has learned the right way to polish water glasses, to wash and fold a hundred handkerchiefs, and to keep a tight lid on memories of the village she left behind when she came to Kumasi. Mary is still learning the rules. Eleven-years-old and irrepressible, the young housegirl-in-training is the little sister Belinda never had. Amma has had enough of the rules. A straight-A student at her exclusive London school, she has always been the pride of her Ghanaian parents―until now. Watching their once-confident teenager grow sullen and wayward, they decide that sensible Belinda is the shining example Amma needs.

So Belinda must leave Mary behind as she is summoned from Ghana to London, where she tries to impose order on her unsettling new world. As summer turns to autumn, Belinda and Amma are surprised to discover common ground. But when the cracks in their defenses open up, the secrets they have both been holding tightly threaten to seep out.

How did you become an author? Has writing stories always been your dream?

MD: Reading was – and continues to be – my route into writing. I have always loved reading, always been fascinated by the way that the most skillful writers force me to reevaluate my sense of self, my beliefs and the possibilities of language. I wanted to write stories that had that kind of impact on readers … but this is, of course, no mean feat! So I read. And read. And read. I did a degree in English and a Masters in Creative Writing so I spent years considering how writers communicate big, difficult ideas with clarity and subtlety, with empathy and levity. And then I sat at my desk for the best part of a decade madly writing and rewriting Hold. While drafting the novel, I constantly sought guidance from people in the publishing industry and tried to figure out which of the wisdoms I was offered would help me to tell the story of Belinda, Mary and Amma most authentically.

Your debut – Hold, follows three young adolescent women between Ghana and London; as a male writer, what inspired you to write about women? Were there any challenges embodying the female characters?

MD: I suppose my primary inspiration for this ‘female-centred’ story came from my curiosity about the housegirls who cooked, cleaned and waited on me and my sisters when we visited Ghana as children. The housegirls were an intriguing and ubiquitous feature of these trips, but they were mostly silent, very deferential and I had very few opportunities to discover more about them. So, in some ways, writing Hold allowed me to think more deeply about how these girls – isolated from their families and working very hard – might have felt about the alienating place that they found themselves in.

Equally, I grew up in a very female-dominated household, surrounded by intelligent, complicated, kind, fascinating women: I wanted to write a novel which honoured and unpicked some of their brilliance and wit. I have spent years closely listening to my sisters, my mother and my wonderful female friends, hearing about the difficulties and joys they encounter as they navigate their way through the world, so I felt like I had a wealth of insights to draw on when creating Belinda, Amma and Mary’s stories.

In terms of other motivations, I think that there is still a worryingly patriarchal quality to many aspects of Ghanaian culture. At times female experience and achievement is overshadowed by a focus on male endeavour. I wanted to craft a story which redressed that bias a little!

Some writers dislike being ‘pigeon-holed’ and labeled as ‘African writer’ or ‘Black writer.’ How do you prefer to be identified as a writer?

MD: Yes, I do find these labels quite unhelpful! My blackness and my Africanness are integral parts of my identity and important elements of my writing, but they exist alongside other, equally important traits. For example, I’m very much a ‘London’ writer, and the character and quality of the city that I was born in and lived in all my life colours my prose hugely. I’m also a writer who is keen to depict and celebrate pop culture.

Additionally, I’m a writer interested in domestic spaces and how they shape personalities and relationships. I’m also a gay writer, and I’m an author who wants to use fiction to investigate the fraught intersections between class, gender, race and sexuality … so some might say that makes me a political writer to a certain extent … the list is endless! So I suppose the labels ‘black’ and ‘African’ are useful for giving a sense of some of my concerns, but they don’t actually address the full diversity of my literary interests. Ultimately, I think I’d like to be ‘identified’ as a writer who is trying to make exploratory, sensitive, funny, humane fiction.

Do you remember the first book you read by a Ghanaian writer? If so, what book was it and what were your impressions? After working on the #GHat60 project last year, I was amazed at the great number of Ghanaian writers doing amazing work. How do you feel about the future of Ghanaian literature?

MD: I’ve always found Kofi Awoonor’s poetry magisterial and haunting. Last year I read Ama Ata Aidoo’s Changes and was impressed by the crispness and precision of her language, and the complicated friendship between Esi and Opokuya.

Kofi Awoonor

And I love Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing. It’s textured, profound – an absolute masterpiece. The scale of its ambition, its beautiful understanding of what people do to endure and survive great suffering … I cried bucketloads when reading it! Rather obsessively, I’ve now foisted it on all of my relatives!

But I’ve got lots to learn about other contemporary Ghanaian fiction, so I’m eager to hear your recommendations!

What have you been reading and loving lately? And who are some of your favorite Black writers and influencers of your work?

MD: The Adulterants by Joe Dunthorne is currently on my bedside table. It is fantastic. It is hilarious. It is GREAT. Dunthorne’s observations are stingingly sharp. He is brilliant at exposing hypocrisies, contradictions and delusions, and his descriptions of London are so inventive; he has such a gift for creating similes that are both original and incredibly accurate in their comparisons.

More broadly, Zadie Smith, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Toni Morrison are huge inspirations for me; because of the seriousness and commitment with which they undertake the business of making fiction and because of how – in their very, different different ways – they profoundly understand the transformative power of storytelling.

Zadie Smith

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Toni Morrison

The book cover for Hold is stunning! Does the young woman on the book cover represent one of the core characters in the book? A lot of readers in Accra are excited for the release of your debut! Will the book be available in Ghana once it’s out? Any plans of launching the book in Accra?

MD: Jack Smyth – the designer at 4th Estate – has done a fantastic job with the cover. The gaze in the girl’s eyes is so wonderfully enigmatic. And I like the fact that this girl could ‘be’ Amma, Belinda or Mary; I like this possibility because it highlights the important parities and communalities between these three seemingly different girls.

I’m intending to visit Ghana early next year so I’d love to do reading in Accra then! I can’t wait to hear what Ghanaians make of the novel…

Finally, what would you like us to take away from Hold?

MD: A very difficult question indeed! I’m keen to avoid being too dictatorial about this sort of thing. Each reader should feel free to ‘take’ from the novel what seems most significant and compelling to them. My only hope is that Amma, Belinda and Mary feel sufficiently vivid, convincing and whole to readers because, when I wrote the novel, these three girls felt very alive to me.

Once again, the month of March is here! Ghana gained independence in March (TODAY, March 6th 1957), so I like to dedicate this month to celebrating Ghanaian writers and their work. In the African literature scene, Ghanaian writers and their books are seriously underrated. As a reader of Ghanaian heritage, I enjoy discovering new Ghanaian writers and learning about our pioneer writers. If we don’t celebrate our own, who will?

Last year on African Book Addict! we celebrated 75 Ghanaian writers and their books in a 3-part series. This year (more like this month), I’ll be in conversation with some of the writers highlighted in last year’s series!

First up is Ayesha Harruna Attah – author of Harmattan Rain, Saturday’s Shadows and forthcoming The Hundred Wells of Salaga, which will be published by Cassava Republic Press in May! Enjoy this fun book chat where Ayesha talks about the inspirations for her forthcoming novel, the first book she read by a Ghanaian writer & the future of Ghanaian literature, the Black writers who influence her work and why we should indulge in The Hundred Wells of Salaga.

Aminah lives an idyllic life until she is brutally separated from her home and forced on a journey that turns her from a daydreamer into a resilient woman. Wurche, the willful daughter of a chief, is desperate to play an important role in her father’s court. These two women’s lives converge as infighting among Wurche’s people threatens to cleave the region, during the height of the slave trade at the end of the 19th century.

Set in pre-colonial Ghana, The Hundred Wells of Salaga is a story of courage, forgiveness, love and freedom. Through the experiences of Aminah and Wurche, it offers a remarkable view of slavery and how the scramble for Africa affected the lives of everyday people.

Ayesha Harruna Attah

The Hundred Wells of Salaga is your 3rd forthcoming novel, congratulations on this achievement! When did you first get ideas on the story and how long did it take you to write the novel?

AHA: Thank you! About ten years ago, I found out that my great-great grandmother was enslaved. I wanted to know more. Who was she? Where had she come from? What were her desires before her dreams were snatched away? To unearth more, I made a trip to Salaga, in northern Ghana, where there was an infamous slave market. But I kept hitting walls – either people didn’t want to talk or they didn’t know enough. So in 2012, I decided to research how people ended up in Salaga and to also put my imagination to work. I officially started writing in 2014.

Did you learn anything about yourself while writing The Hundred Wells of Salaga?

AHA: I learned just how much I didn’t know about African history. For instance, it was a big surprise to me that in the 19th century in the Sokoto Caliphate, there were women teachers, jajis, who taught other women and they used poetry as a way of disseminating values.

While reading Harmattan Rain, I saw bits of my life reflected in Sugri’s character and in Saturday’s Shadows, Kojo’s character mirrored a lot of my life as well! How much of your personal life seeps into your stories?

AHA: I don’t consciously set out to put my lived experiences into my writing, but it would be almost impossible to divorce myself from my characters. Even if I were writing the vilest character on earth, it would be with my flavor and through my eyes. Of course, there are certain moments in life that are too good to keep to oneself and, those, I very intentionally put into my stories. For instance, the anecdote in Saturday’s Shadows, where a man cuts himself with a blade to prove he’s invincible—that was a real life scene I witnessed.

Do you remember the first book you read by a Ghanaian writer? If so, what book was it and how was the experience? After working on the #GHat60 project last year, I was amazed at the great number of Ghanaian writers doing amazing work. How do you feel about the future of Ghanaian literature?

AHA: I think it was The Anthill in the Sea, an illustrated poetry book by Atukwei Okai. I don’t even remember how old I was. Maybe seven. I loved it.

On the future of Ghanaian literature, there is so much potential and possibility brimming, which I find really exciting. I think the work the Writers Project of Ghana is doing is commendable and writers such as Ruby Goka, Nana Awere Damoah, Mohammed Naseehu Ali, Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Boakyewaa Glover give me hope for our generation of writers. What we desperately need are publishing houses with serious distribution networks.

What have you been reading and loving lately? And who are some of your favorite Black writers and influencers of your work?

AHA: After almost a year and a half of new mummy duties, I have started reading again. Since January, I have read Akwaeke Emezi, JJ Bola, Ayobami Adebayo, all debut novelists and I have loved all their books.

I devour work by Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Bessie Head, Ama Ata Aidoo, Lucille Clifton, and of course, Ayi Kwei Armah, who gave me the push I needed to write my first novel.

Toni Morrison

Alice Walker

Bessie Head

Ama Ata Aidoo

Lucille Clifton

Ayi Kwei Armah

Finally, why would you like readers to indulge in your forthcoming, The Hundred Wells of Salaga? What would you like us to take away from the story?

AHA: The involvement of Africans in the slave trade is a part of history that I feel hasn’t been confronted or dealt with enough. There were entire villages built in rocks to prevent slave raiders from attacking. It was a traumatic moment we suffered on the continent, and if trauma isn’t healed it manifests itself in disease, passiveness, self-harm… The list is endless. My impression is that most African countries do not want to deal with this past. Just recently, the world learned of slave auctions in Libya. I was ashamed and appalled that Ghanaians and Nigerians were involved, once again as middlemen. I hope that this book will wake us up to the role that we played in the slave trade, and begin us on the path of forgiveness and healing.

MORE books to look out for in 2018:

Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves

Yes! Glory Edim, aka – Well-Read Black Girl, is working on an anthology that will feature black women writers like – Zinzi Clemons, Nicole Dennis-Benn, Marita Golden, and Tayari Jones as they highlight the first time they saw themselves represented in literature. To be published by Random House.

Learning to Breathe by Janice L. Mather

I first encountered Bahamian writer – Janice Lynn Mather’s writing in the 2014 anthology, Pepperpot: Best New Stories From The Caribbean. Her short story- ‘Mango Summer’ was such a poetic, gentle and innocent tale on sisterhood and loneliness; with the abundance of mangoes being a humorous distraction to the heartfelt tale.

I loved her writing in ‘Mango Summer’ and eagerly look forward to this debut! To be published by Simon & Schuster, June 2018.

She Would Be King by Wayétu Moore

Wayétu Moore is a writer of Liberian heritage and is the founder of One Moore Book, which is a children’s book publishing company that focuses on providing culturally sensitive and educational stories for children living in regions with low literacy rates and underrepresented cultures. Her debut – She Would Be King, reimagines the dramatic story of Liberia’s early years through three characters who share an uncommon bond. I can’t wait for the book cover to be revealed soon!! To be published by Graywolf Press, September 2018.

Like this:

I hope the holiday season has been relaxing for you all. 2017 is almost over and it’s time for a recap of the year! I ended up reading 28 books this year. The break down of my 2017 reading experience is as follows:

Average books read per month: 2 books

Anthologies read: 3 books

Audiobooks ‘read’: 3 books

African literature: 10 books

Caribbean literature: 4 books

African-American literature: 13 books

Others: 1 book (this is a non-African/non-Diaspora book. Written by Cheryl Strayed).

20 women writers; 5 men writers

Top 5 favorite books of 2017

These were the most insightful, affirming and enjoyable books for me this year! School/life has been quite hectic this year, so I’m behind on book reviews. Expect the remaining book reviews in 2018, but in the meantime, I HIGHLY recommend these 5 books!

It’s been both overwhelming and exciting being recognized for all the hard work that goes into creating content for this book blog. Book blogging here at African Book Addict! is purely a hobby (as I’m currently a 4th year Dental Student – its a 6 year program), so receiving recognition and praise is always affirming and such a blessing.

Below is a list of the features and recognitions African Book Addict! has gained this year:

2017 Reading Intentions round up:

At the beginning of the year, I set 3 reading intentions. But I don’t think I’ve successfully achieved them all…

My first reading intention was to READ MY OWN DAMN BOOKS. Only 9 of the books I read this year had been on my bookshelf for a while. The rest of the books I’ve enjoyed were acquired THIS year! Is it possible for a moody book lover to restrict him/herself to just the books sitting on one’s bookshelf? It’s tough y’all!

The second reading intention was to PURCHASE LESS books this year. Well… I ended up purchasing about 30 books (discounted/ used books – chill out!) over the summer and many, many more for friends & family as gifts. I might have jinxed myself by setting this goal/intention for myself! *shrug*

Lastly, I set out to buddy-read some novels with other book bloggers/ book lovers. I successfully read Behold The Dreamers with Ifeyinwa Arinze and we had a great conversation on the book as well! I had planned to read books with other bloggers – Osondu (of Incessant Scribble), Didi (of Brown Girl Reading) and Afoma (of Afoma Umesi). Osondu and I weren’t excited about the book we set out to read, so our buddy-read was unsuccessful; Didi and I were to read a debut that a writer had sent us – but we couldn’t get passed the first 50 pages, so we quit; Afoma and I also tried to read an ARC together this month, but the book is super slow… maybe we’ll continue to read it together in the new year. Buddy-reading has been challenging! I think I’ll talk more about this in the new year.

Were you able to achieve some of your 2017 Reading Intentions?

[Don’t beat yourself up if you weren’t able to – its definitely not that serious and you can still achieve them in 2018!]

Total books read in 2017

I’m TRULY grateful to everyone who frequents this book blog and for the great discussions (agreements, disagreements and recommendations) we have in the comments section. I always appreciate the support and love shown here, from you all. This year, I’ve enjoyed discovering new book blogs, book lovers & Bookstagram accounts (Book Instagram) and I hope to connect with more in the future! Here’s to more great years of reading ahead, for all of us. 🙂